Democrats are holding their 1st primary debate in Georgia since 1992. A lot has changed since then.

Stacey Abrams. — (Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

The Democratic National Committee has Georgia on its mind.

Wednesday night's Democratic debate is being held in Atlanta, and this is the first time the DNC has chosen Georgia for a primary debate in 27 years, The Guardian reports. While the state has been reliably red for the last 20 years, the party is optimistic about turning it purple, thanks to more Democrat-friendly voters moving to and becoming eligible to vote in Georgia and candidates like Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic leader of the state House.

Abrams ran for governor last year, narrowly losing to Republican Brian Kemp. She received 1.9 million votes, the highest number of ballots cast for a Democrat in Georgia history, The Guardian reports. Abrams believes Georgia should be considered a swing state, and is working to mobilize voters and tackle voter suppression. She is attending the debate, and spoke to the crowd to get them energized before the candidates took the stage.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.